Job Skills Center Might Be Coming

JAMES CITY — A work force training center in James City may not be a cure-all for all that ails the county, but forgive advocates meeting this week if their excitement suggests it might be.

Berkeley Supervisor Jay Harrison and other county officials are hosting a summit of education, business and governmental leaders Wednesday afternoon to kick off formal discussions about bringing to James City a center devoted to teaching job skills.

They're using as a model the Peninsula Workforce Development Center at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, which opened in 2001. The center has been praised for educational services provided to businesses throughout Hampton Roads but especially its work with Northrop Grumman Newport News.

A focus on manufacturing is ideal for that location, but many leaders in the Historic Triangle have long said their area could use its own site - one teaching much-needed skills in tourism, construction and nursing, among others.

The location proposed by Harrison is James City-owned land at the county's Thomas Nelson campus near Kingsmill.

But much has yet to be evaluated regarding the need and what's being provided in the region.

Advocates say a James City work force center would help bring in high-paying jobs that recent surveys say are lacking here. Industries that consider the county as a place to set up shop are too often going elsewhere because of the lack of a trained work force, officials have said.

Skilled laborers would also be paid higher than those in the prevailing retail job market. And higher wages could bring down some of the need for affordable housing, Harrison said.

"When it comes to the low-income families, we really can't build a house affordable enough for many of them," Harrison said. "So instead, we need to give them a skill set, so they can afford something a little more."

Harrison said that making it easier for people to move to retirement community-heavy James City would likely bring with it a spike in school-age families, which could then lead to a need for more schools.

Expected to attend the 2 p.m. meeting at New Town's Legacy Hall are Gary Mathews, superintendent of the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools; Bob Hershberger, executive vice president of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance; and representatives from the city of Williamsburg and York County.

"What Harrison is bringing forward would fill a real need, one we've known about for a while now," Hershberger said.